Summer is the most popular time of the year to move but did you know today (June 30) is the busiest moving day of the year? Moving can be a stressful event because you’re uprooting your entire life from one location to another but it doesn’t have to be if you’re strategic with your approach. I am pleased to partner with Kijiji to share my top 5 decluttering tips to help you KonMari your way to a stress-free move and live a joyful clutter-free life.

1. Before you start, envision your ideal lifestyle at your new home

This is the single most important step you need to take before you start decluttering. Marie Kondo says the question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life. You need to ask yourself what is your ideal lifestyle? how do you want to live? and what will bring you the most joy? Having a clear vision of your ideal life will help you clarify which items to keep, how they fit into your ideal life and how they will support you to live the life you want to live once you finish.

2. Does it Spark Joy?

People often hang onto an item when they have an attachment to the past or a fear for the future. The only criteria you should consider when choosing what to keep is to focus on the present, hold the item in your hand, ask yourself if it sparks joy for you, and listen to your heart. When you do this truthfully, you will be left with only the items that bring you the most joy and the items that will support you to live the life you want. Asking this question repeatedly throughout the process will help you hone your sensitivity to joy and your decision-making skills. You’ll soon find yourself applying that knowledge to every aspect of your life to live more joyfully.

3. Your home is a living space, not a storage space

Once you decide an item no longer sparks joy, sell it or give it a second life. This can easily be done by selling in the second-hand economy. With 16-million Canadian monthly users, it’s no surprise that Kijiji is consistently the #1 channel for buying and selling second-hand. According to their 2018 Second-Hand Economy Index Report, Canadians gave second life to 2.3 billion items in 2017 and nearly all Alberta residents (99.7%!) participated in the second-hand economy in some way last year.

4. Sort by category, not by room

When you are decluttering and organizing, follow these 5 KonMari categories in the following order: Clothing, Books, Paper, Komono (includes all miscellaneous items grouped into subcategories) and Sentimental Items. Start by gathering everything from the category in one spot. When you work by category, you can move on to the next only after you have finished the previous. This is a great way for you to take inventory to see how much you have as people often don’t realize the volume of their possessions until they see it all together. If a category is too big, you can create subcategories. Furniture, clothing and entertainment items are the top categories of most exchanged items in second-hand economy. If you decide to sell an item, give yourself a deadline so the items are gone before your moving date.

5. Don’t Wait! Start now

You don’t need to wait until you’re moving to start this process. Everyone can benefit from clutter-free living even without a move in the near future. Starting early will also give you more time to manage the items you want to sell or donate. Did you know Canadians earned an average of $1,134 from selling items they no longer need last year? It’s also much more sustainable and better for the environment when you participate in second-hand economy versus buying new. Start by reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and reset your life. It really is a life-changing method to simply your life and live more joyfully. Also check out secondhandeconomy.kijiji.ca and check out how to make the second-hand economy work for you.